


I'll Come For You

by jenny_wren



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-01
Updated: 2015-06-01
Packaged: 2018-04-02 06:50:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,626
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4050373
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jenny_wren/pseuds/jenny_wren
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kink meme fill for Kirk and McCoy as Damon and Pythias</p>
            </blockquote>





	I'll Come For You

“You do not seem worried,” said the Chancellor guy.

“I’m not,” said Jim truthfully. He rocked his chair a little further back, hitched his booted feet up to rest against the window sill and crossed them at the ankle. Late afternoon sunlight streamed through the open window, bright and warm and sleepy.

“Surely you do not believe your friend,” there was scorn in the Chancellor’s voice at the mention of Bones, “will return?”

“Nope.” Jim grinned cheerfully. Rutori might be governed by a bureaucratic bastard but its sun was amazing, bigger than Earth’s, it glowed a rich plum-red. It would have been nice to see Earth’s golden-yellow for one last time, but as last sights went Rutori’s sun was nearly perfect.

“I do not understand you.”

“Clearly.” Jim sighed. He’d like to enjoy the peace of his decision without the Chancellor yapping away in the background like an irritating terrier.

He heard the Chancellor’s footsteps retreat in a rustle of ceremonial robes. Jim closed his eyes and relaxed into the heat of the sun.

“It does not make sense.” The querulous voice came from right behind Jim, his body jolted and he nearly fell off his chair.

“Geez,” he growled, “You’re already going to kill me. Is it too much to ask for a little peace and quiet beforehand?” He scowled and winced when it pulled at the swelling skin around his eye. Spock had socked him but good. 

“It does not make sense,” said the Chancellor again. “Explain.”

“Explain what? You’re the one making the rules here. It’s not my fault they make no sense.”

“Explain.”

“What? Bones saved that boy’s life, which was apparently a massive crime against fate, so you were going to kill him, and can I just say what an incredibly fucked-up belief system that is.” 

The Chancellor glowered.

Jim smiled as he imagined his crew‘s disapproving faces. They would not approve of his cultural-insensitivity, but hey, Jim was going to be dead in a couple of hours, the Prime Directive could take a hike. 

He continued, “So I persuaded you to let Bones go back to the ship by taking his place and promising to let you kill me instead if he didn’t return. I persuaded Bones to go back to the Enterprise to compose a final vid for Joanna. And I ordered Spock to stab Bones with his own damn hypos and keep him there.”

Spock had turned a very peculiar shade of yellow. Jim had said, “Hey Kobayshi Maru, my very own no-win situation. I’d have thought you’d approve.”

And Spock had slammed his fist into Jim’s cheek with very nearly his full strength. Given Spock’s Vulcan hands it had probably hurt him almost as much as Jim. Jim’d patted his First Officer on the shoulder. “Sorry Spock, I was being an ass, again. You know I always win when it matters.”

Spock had turned even yellower, “If you continue to speak Captain, I will punch you again.”

Which he had thought was a little harsh, but then Spock would be stuck dealing with cranky-Bones after Bones woke up, so he had cut the guy some slack.

Jim shook himself from his memories and found the Chancellor was still scowling peevishly at him.

“What now? Honestly you’re grumpier than a Klingon on the rag.” Jim pouted a little at the thought he’d never get Bones and Uhura tag-teaming him on his ‘demeaning language’ again. It was always hysterically funny because when Bones let rip he was ten times worse than Jim but the honey-sweet accent just made everyone smile fondly.

“You know your friend will not come back.”

“Exactly,” Jim grinned sharply. “You’re not getting filthy hands on him ever again.” He folded his arms and settled back in his chair supremely self-satisfied. Bones was safe, Starfleet got their dilithium contract signed and sealed, and Bones was safe. Not bad things to die for all in all.

Ignoring the yapping Chancellor, he arched his back and extended his legs, pulling himself into a luxurious stretch, before relaxing back into the sunshine. 

 

Something was wrong. Leonard’s fuzzy brain wouldn’t cooperate by producing any details but he knew something wrong. Something was wrong with Jim.

He could make his fingers twitch and he scraped his nails against his palm, trying to use the pain to jolt himself into awareness. His tongue was numb but biting down on his lip worked.

He managed to crack his crusty eyes half open.

The med bay lights were low and it was deathly quiet. Moving his head slightly to scope out the room, he saw Geoff’s dark head. He let his mouth open to call out, or at least groan, when he remembered Geoff was the enemy.

It took him long painful seconds to translate the shock of betrayal into an actual memory, but it came. Geoff’s face, oh so sad, “I’m sorry Leonard,” and then the sting of a hypo.

Spock’s voice, “Captain’s orders.”

Leonard ground his nails and teeth into soft flesh. The pain sharpened and quickened him. He remembered Rutori, the poor boy who fell, multiple fractures two breaking the skin, being hauled up on charges. He was still incredulous at being sentenced to death for helping, but he couldn’t not have. Didn’t like to think that if he’d known the consequences he’d have let the kid bleed out in the street.

Starfleet’s refusal to endanger the dilithium contract by intervening in due judicial process. Jim’s face. Jim’s voice urgent and strained, convincing him to return to the Enterprise to leave one last message for Joanna. Returning on the shuttle with a stone-faced Spock who’d spoken to Nyota in Vulcan. Being met by Geoff and the sting of a hypo.

Jim.

The mother-fucking little prick had played him. Jim was lounging around on that godforsaken planet waiting to die in his place.

Leonard was going to kill him.

Jim.

God, Leonard had to get down onto the planet. 

He began to pant tightly. Thinking of Jim dying alone on Rutori made it easy to drive himself into hyperventilation. Sunset gleaming in Jim‘s golden hair. Rutori guards in somber grey, projectile guns at the ready. Quick breaths, in and out. The sun dropping behind the horizon, Jim‘s blue eyes dimming. Fear squeezed his lungs. The order to fire. His pulse rocketed. Jim’s body crumpling to the grass.

The biobed squealed out his anguish.

Geoff’s head snapped around. He muttered something under his breath and hurried over,

“… not after everything the Captain’s done to keep you safe.”

Leonard jerked his knees up and drove them into Geoff’s ribs. Geoff choked as the air punched out of his chest, staggered, and caught himself on the bed. Leonard swung himself up and slammed his doubled-up fists into the back of Geoff’s neck. Geoff  
collapsed, spilling across the floor.

“You forget Jim taught me to fight dirty?” Leonard snarled at the fallen man. He grabbed the nearby hypospray, checked it was the sedative he was expecting, and stabbed his opponent with a vicious flick of his wrist.

Jim had spent hours in the gym drilling Leonard on defensive maneuvers. “You fight dirty first, last and always. You’re not doing it to look good, you’re doing it to win. No retreat, and no surrender.”

Since the majority of Jim’s training consisted of “… and then run like hell,” that hadn’t made sense. Leonard said so.

“Nah, you’re missing the point. You gotta remember your objective, which is to stay safe. There’s no surrender on that. You understand me. You stay safe until I can come get you.”

Leonard hadn’t quite understood, but, almost unbearably touched by Jim’s uncharacteristic seriousness, he signed up for ‘Advanced Hand to Hand for Non-Combatants’ to try and show he was taking his training just as diligently. He walked the class so easily the teacher accused him of being a ringer.

Jim had also dragged him through every Jeffries tube, cut through, and shortcut on the Enterprise, without making a single smutty joke about the traditional alternative use for a Jeffries tube.

Which meant Leonard was able to make his way to shuttle bay without meeting another soul. Once there he had stop and take a shuddery breath. Adrenaline overload had left him shaky and weak and his stomach twisted at the mere idea of being in a shuttle, let alone piloting one.

He rubbed his sweaty palms against his thighs. Surrender was not an option. 

Marching over to the nearest shuttle, Leonard entered Jim’s override code, climbed inside, sealed the door and belted himself in. Then, just as he would before commencing a tricky incision, he took three deep, steady breaths. All thought of Jim trapped on that hellhole planet was shoved away and Leonard focused instead on happy Jim teaching him to fly. Happy Jim smiled at him from co-pilot seat as he began to run through the pre-flight check.

 

Cuffed hands in front of him, Jim was marched along at the center of a squad of Rutori soldiers. Watching them, he could see from their slack posture that his obedience to their imperious commands had relaxed them to the point they no longer considered him potential trouble. 

Jim was pretty sure if he smacked his joined fists into the nose of the guard on his immediate right and kicked the guard in the left in the balls, he could grab a gun before they recovered themselves. He figured he had a twenty-five percent chance of dodging his escort and escaping into the Palace garden’s mock wilderness. Normally he wouldn’t have been able to stop himself taking that chance at far worse odds.

Head bowed meekly, he continued walking until the squad captain called for a halt on the wide Palace lawn. Somehow Bones had always unwound his fight and flight instincts.

 

“Just so you know,” said Leonard, “I hate you, even more than I hate shuttles.” He scowled at the empty seat where Jim wasn’t.

He was well into the atmosphere by the time his escape had been discovered and Spock‘s voice came over the comm,

“Really doctor this is most illogical.” The hobgoblin then had the nerve to try and order him back. Leonard couldn’t believe he thought that would work.

He wished he could spare enough attention to tell him to shut the fuck up, or at least turn off the comm. Unfortunately all his attention was on trying to remember what Jim said to do in event of a crossdraft.

“’I hate you’ in no way does justice to my feelings for you at this moment, James Tiberius Kirk.”

Imaginary Jim smirked at him from the copilot seat.

 

The sun was sinking behind the palace. The Chancellor raised his hand to the sky, swinging his robe so it flared out dramatically. Jim admired the effect. To achieve it, he reckoned the robe had to be weighted pretty heavily at the hem. No wonder the Chancellor was permanently pissy, his ankles must be black and blue.

“See, your friend has not returned.” 

Jim rolled his eyes, “I told you he wouldn’t.” The Chancellor clearly loved the sound of his own voice too much to hear what anyone else said.

“And now you will die in his place.”

“That’s the plan.”

The Chancellor’s face tightened into peevish hate, “But first you will know fear.”

Jim sighed, and things had been going so well too.

 

His angle of approach was wrong. Buffeted by the drag, the shuttle was swelteringly hot and shuddering like it was about to fall apart. Uhura was begging over the comm, 

“Leonard come back. It’s too late for Jim. We can’t lose you too. Please come back.”

And his imaginary Jim was no longer smiling but slumped over the floor, broken and bleeding.

Leonard couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe. He only knew he couldn’t be too late, the sun hadn’t set and Jim wasn’t dead.

Under his shaking hands, the shuttle skipped and bucked, howling through its descent.

 

Jim crumpled quickly to the ground as the soldiers obediently started working him over with the stocks of their rifles. For a beating it was pretty mild. They let him curve his arms protectively over his head, bring his legs up guard his abdomen and hardly went after his vulnerable back at all. In the background the Chancellor screeched directions. 

The blast of sound shocked them all statue-still. Sonic boom rippling over his skin and drumming through his ears, Jim uncurled cautiously and stared up at the sky.

“Holy fuck Bones, how can you still suck so bad at calculating angles of descent.”

 

Leonard wrenched the comm off, and the cessation of whining voices was a relief. He rubbed his hands over his face.

“Alright Bones,” he coached himself. “Jim is never going to let you live it down if you smash up his shuttle. Just concentrate for a moment.”

He remembered Jim’s exasperated voice saying ‘Your ability to overestimate your angles is so consistent, you’re like the idiot savant of piloting. With the emphasis on idiot.’

“Thanks Jim.”

He altered his approach, and although the shuttle still rattled, it wasn’t as bad.

 

Seriously, for a guy who calculated dosages in his head, Jim would have thought Bones would find angles of approach easy, but somehow Bones always managed to come in wrong.

Thankfully Bones straightened himself up a bit before it became critical and the shuttle ploughed into the far end of the Gardens in an ungraceful belly-flop that sent up plumes of dust and dirt.

Jim bolted.

 

Slammed around in his seat, it took Leonard a minute to gather his bearings and another minute to fight his way free of the belt that had locked itself in place on impact. He was staggering towards the emergency door release when it opened from the outside and someone crashed inside.

“Bones,” howled an indignant Jim. “You broke my shuttle.”

“I’m gonna break you, you colossal idiot.” He grabbed Jim by the shoulders with intention of shaking some sense into him. Jim apparently tried sling his arm around Leonard’s own shoulders, but, complicated by the cuffs on Jim’s wrists, and Leonard having to duck a near smack in the eye, the gesture ended with Jim’s arms around Leonard’s neck, body flush against his, faces bare inches apart.

Leonard’s hands dropped automatically to Jim’s hips to steady his off-balance friend. Jim moaned low in his throat and suddenly they were kissing: messy, wet and desperate.

 

The clatter of the approaching soldiers made Jim pull back. His attention immediately fixed on Bones’ wild eyes and slick mouth. He had to close his eyes and swallow hard before he could unhook his arms from Bones’ neck and take a step back.

“What the hell are you doing here, Bones?”

“Take a wild guess, asshole.”

“Trust you to come over all noble and shit,” Jim wanted to hit him, why wouldn’t Bones let him do this one right thing in a lifetime of fuckups.

“Noble, you think this is about me being noble?” Bones did hit him. 

Jim crashed back over a row of seats. “Ow,” he complained as he struggled back to his feet. Cradling his cheek with hands, he pouted at Bones. 

“Damnit Jim, you drive me crazy.” Bones pressed his hands tightly to his face. Jim wondered if he was praying for patience.

“Ow,” he said again, because if you were injured you might as well milk it.

Bones' arms dropped tiredly to his sides, “Let me see if I can find the first aid kit.”

Which was when the soldiers finally decided the shuttle wasn’t about to blow up and barged inside.

 

Leonard was still furious as he followed the soldiers back towards the Palace. He wanted to go back to his original plan of shaking sense into Jim. The shock of the kiss was still rocketing through his veins. He ran his tongue over his lips, searching for the taste of his friend.

How could Jim think it was about nobility? There was nothing noble about his blood and guts need for Jim.

“How could you ever believe I’d let you die in my place?” he snarled.

“Of course I didn’t think that,” Jim hissed back, “which is why I told Spock to get you sedated. A job he clearly mucked up spectacularly.”

“And you thought I could live with that?”

Jim shrugged his shoulders, “Not like it was your choice.”

“Coward,” Leonard sneered, trying to hurt Jim, as much as he hurt at realizing Jim thought Leonard would just shrug off his death and carry on.

“You bet,” Jim agreed with a bob of his head. “A man should know his limits and you’re it for me.”

 

Leonard was too busy fighting his way through all the contradictory words he wanted to yell, growl and whisper sweetly to come up with a response to that before they arrived in front of the Chancellor. 

The petty little man smirked at him, “You were late.”

“I was held up by pirates,” said Leonard blandly.

Jim laughed.

“You know, he was certain you would not come,” the smirk broadened, as if the Chancellor thought he was scoring some sort of hit.

Leonard snorted.

The Chancellor glared, “So now that you have condescended to join us, I will release that one, and you will be executed.”

Leonard had never wanted to die, and after that kiss with Jim he wanted to die even less. It was still the best choice open to him. He nodded his head.

“No,” said Jim loudly and clearly.

Everyone stared at him. The Chancellor’s jaw dropped. “No,” he parroted blankly. 

“No,” Jim confirmed. “The agreement was that if Bones wasn’t back by sunset, I would die in his place. He was late. I’m the one who’s going to die.”

“Jim, no,” Leonard pleaded as the world spun topsily on him. “I can’t have been too late.”

Jim smiled sadly back at him, determination in his eyes.

“There’s a simple solution to this,” the Chancellor was back to smirking. “You will both be executed.”

“No,” Leonard yelled over Jim’s own cry of denial and suddenly they were fighting each other as they each tried to shove the other protectively behind them.

A shrill order from the Chancellor and the soldiers were dragging them apart. Leonard fought them as hard as he could until a blow to the back of his head left him stunned and dizzy.

They stood him next to Jim, who’d gone still and quiet and shrunken. 

“Jim?” Wary blue eyes stared out at him from Jim’s bruised, battered face. “Oh God Jim, come here.” He curled his arms tightly around his best friend. “It’s okay,” he promised futilely, “it’s okay.”

Distantly he heard the order to fire.

 

Sharp, breathless pain radiating through his sternum, Leonard smashed into the ground. A great weight was crushing his chest but there was no pain. Winded, he stared blindly at the trembling darkness as the world reoriented itself around him and his dazed brain figured it out.

He had not in fact been shot. The pain in his chest was from Jim slamming into him with his shoulder as he hooked Leonard’s legs out from under him and drove them both into the damp ground. The weight was Jim curled around him protectively. He reached up and shoved.

Jim whined high in the back of his throat like a kicked dog. Leonard promptly forgot everything else because Jim losing his colorful armor of cussing and cursing meant something was really wrong.

“Jim?” he wriggled out from underneath him. His hands automatically checked the most vulnerable areas, flattening smoothly over Jim’s torso and curving around Jim’s head.

Jim pushed him away, “I’m fine.”

“You know saying you’re fine is your biggest tell, right Jim?”

“Shut up, Bones.” 

He could see the wound now, an ugly splotch of blood on Jim’s bicep. He skimmed it with his finger, felt the channel dug into Jim’s flesh and the solid lump of metal still wedged there. 

“I’m fine,” said Jim again.

“That would be so much more convincing if you weren’t grinding your teeth.”

“I’m fine.”

The angry, terrified part of Leonard wanted nothing more than to clamp his hand down on the wound and squeeze Jim’s infuriating denial until it shattered.

 

Jim’s lips quirked as he watched Bones contemplating homicide. Poor old Bones, Jim was too hard on the dear man. He’d probably need to take, like, six months off to recover after putting up with Jim for nearly five years.

Gritting his teeth against the pain in his shoulder, he forced his wobbly legs to stand up and offered his hand to Bones. Bones accepted the hand, but didn’t put any weight on it as he hauled himself to his feet. Which was probably just as well or they’d have both ended up back on the ground.

The Chancellor had been fussing at them for some indeterminate time. Jim was getting really tired of the guy but he needed to keep it together for a little longer, so he tuned back in to the Chancellor’s whinging.

“Have you no pride?” sneered the Chancellor. “To cower like dogs.”

Jim shrugged his good shoulder. He didn’t care what this backwater idiot thought of him. He was sticking to his objective, Bones’ safety. Unable to risk a delay, he’d had to react immediately when they shouldered their rifles. Next time around though, his injury would slow him those few crucial seconds and he’d take a bullet somewhere permanent.

He clutched Bones hand tighter, “No retreat, no surrender,” he whispered.

Bones smiled shakily at him. Jim’s heart gave a quick double-thump at the trust and growing hope in Bones’ eyes. His Bones really did believe Jim would get him out of this.

And Jim would. He figured Spock would arrive to retrieve Bones any moment now. If Jim was dead, he was certain Spock would insist they stick to letter of the original agreement of Jim dying in Bones’ place. Spock and Bones would book it back to the Enterprise, the Chancellor could have his pathetic little power play and Starfleet could have their dilithium. Everyone would be happy.

The Chancellor gestured imperiously and the execution squad lined up again. Before the command to fire could be given, a young voice screeched,

“STOP!”

Jim jerked with surprise, turning with Bones to stare at the newcomer. It was the skinny boy whose life Bones had saved. He was wearing a long robe like the Chancellor’s, brightly woven in purple and gold, very different to the scruffy rags from before. Half the squad of soldiers immediately lowered their rifles and that was a very interesting reaction.

And then Spock arrived.

They used the hover shuttle. It screeched down out the sky at a shockingly steep angle. The pilot had to be Sulu and somebody needed to remind him to be more careful in balancing speed and surprise against risk. Jim was sorry it wasn’t going to be him because Sulu sometimes didn’t listen that well to Spock, thought Spock was too caught up in playing the odds.

Spock and nine others jumped straight to the ground, and the shuttle peeled away back to the Enterprise. Spock and the rest headed over at a run. They carried a standard phaser on their hips, but each held in their arms the huge GTA phaser that was designed to take down a shuttle. Jim couldn’t imagine they’d be much use in ground combat but they looked really, really intimidating. That had to be Uhura’s idea, it never occurred to Spock that people might need convincing he was dangerous.

“Captain, it is good to see you looking well.”

Jim blinked. Wow! Spock was taking this awfully hard. “It’s okay Spock. Calm down before you combust something.” Then he blinked again because it sounded like Spock just growled. He patted his First on the shoulder.

“What is with you? And what’s with the phasers? Why are you here anyway?”

Spock narrowed his eyes. “You ordered Dr McCoy be confined to sickbay. He evaded our control, so we have come to retrieve him.”

“Uh huh, and it needed ten of you and some stupidly big guns?”

“Dr McCoy had eluded capture on the Enterprise. I deemed it necessary to take steps.”

“Uh huh.” Jim glanced at the Rutori soldiers. Spock’s appearance had thrown the doubters firmly into neutrality. The ones who had originally lowered their rifles had picked them up again and were pointing them in the Chancellor’s direction.

“Arrest that man,” cried the boy, pointing grandly at the Chancellor.

Jim smiled approvingly at the boy’s ability to pick the correct psychological moment. The Chancellor squealed his protest as the soldiers leapt to obey.

The boy spoke louder, “The Gods have removed him from their favor. He stands before them disgraced and unhallowed.”

One of the soldiers clubbed the Chancellor over the head with his rifle and thankfully shut him up. Bones took an automatic step forwards, Jim grabbed his arm.

“There’s nothing you can do. I think he’s pretty much doomed.”

“I’m getting that,” said Bones. “Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy.”

Jim did a quick double-take at the savage satisfaction in Bones’ voice. He supposed it made sense given the Chancellor had tried to have him killed, but it was still odd coming from Bones.

Three of the soldiers started to drag the Chancellor away, and Jim decided his own psychological moment had come. He quickly made his way over to the boy, dropping to one knee in approved Rutori fashion,

“Your Excellency,” he said loudly, pitching his voice to carry.

The boy’s dark eyes gleamed with gratitude and approval at the use of the Chancellor’s title,

“You may speak, Envoy from the Further Stars.”

“I ask that you will uphold the accords agreed with the previous Chancellor.”

“You ask for your friend’s life,” said the boy quietly, “and not your own.”

Jim nodded. Halfway through a coup was not a good time to ask for mercy, but Bones had saved the boy’s life.

The boy grinned suddenly and mischief danced in his eyes. Jim shifted uneasily because he was reminded a little too closely of himself at that age.

“Hear me,” called the boy, he pointed at Bones, “the Doctor from the Further Stars did the Gods’ work when he healed me from the Usurper’s attempt on my life.”

Jim did a hurried rearranging of the facts and realized the boy hadn’t fallen but had been pushed from the roof. On the Chancellor’s orders. No wonder the man had been pissed when Bones saved the boy‘s life.

“Therefore,” the boy continued, “he committed no crime against the fates. His actions merit reward not chastisement. In honor of his service to the Gods we grant him the right to enter the Temple Sanctuary and seek them directly. He and his friend are both free to depart as they wish.”

It took Jim a second to parse that. He pointed at Bones and then himself, “We can both go?”

“Yes,” the boy grinned with his whole body, thoroughly pleased with himself.

“Thank you,” said Jim, heartfelt.

“I owed you. I have been waiting a long time for today.” His grin sharpened.

“Yeah, you need any help with that?”

“No more than you have already given me. Please inform your people that we can exchange our first shipments in three turns.”

“Okay then, we’ll get out of your hair.” Jim rose to his feet. “Hey kid,”

“Yes?”

“Knock ‘em dead.”

“I intend too.” The boy straightened and turned to his soldiers and started to issue orders. He obviously had been thinking about today for a long time. Jim started to walk closer so he could listen more clearly when Spock grabbed his arm.

“Ow Spock, what is your problem?”

“Please come this way Captain.” With a grip of iron he forcibly towed Jim back to his clump of crew. They’d formed a protective circle around Bones and they all looked ready to take issue with anyone who so much as looked at them funny. 

“You’re in trouble now Bones,” Jim sing-songed. “Looks like they didn’t appreciate you sneaking out on them. And you guys, you are all in the dog house. You let my doctor escape. That’s seriously not on. Ow Spock.”

Spock shoved Jim through the circle and he staggered into Bones. Bones wrapped both arms suffocating tight around him. Jim could feel the shudders trembling through his best friend’s body. Bones was shaking as if he was about to fall apart.

“Bones?”

 

Leonard couldn’t do anything but hold on tight to Jim. He had nearly died, Jim had nearly died. Jim had nearly _died_.

Jim was whispering a hurried litany, “Bones, it’s okay. It’s all over. You know I’ll never let anyone hurt you. Bones it’s okay.”

Jim was being gentle with him. Patient and careful, as if Leonard was the one who’d spent the afternoon waiting around to be killed in someone else’s place, as if Leonard was the one who’d beaten and shot.

Leonard tightened his grip.

“Captain, the shuttle is here.”

“Come on Bones, let’s get back to the ship.” 

A hand grabbed his shoulder and Leonard couldn’t help his flinch.

“Don’t you fucking touch him,” snarled Jim. The hand released him. Jim rubbed his fingers against Leonard’s hip, “It’s okay Bones,” he soothed, “just Stauber being a moron. Let’s go, huh. I’ve had just enough of this place. The kid was cool though. Maybe next year we could come back and check on him,” 

_No, no, no._

“Okay, no coming back, I get it. We could send Pike, it’s the sort of thing he’d enjoy and he needs to get away from Starfleet now and then.” The soft patter continued as Jim nudged against his grip, lightly urging him to move and Leonard found himself obeying the subtle cues.

Jim herded him into the corner of the shuttle and Leonard’s back hit the wall and he gratefully let his shaky legs collapse as he slid down onto the bench seat. He dragged Jim down with him, who wriggle-twisted and ended up straddling Leonard’s lap, one leg tucked along the wall, the other braced against the floor. As Jim shifted their positions with his knees, Leonard belatedly realized Jim had placed himself between Leonard and everything and everybody else.

“You have to stop doing that.”

Jim apparently decided Leonard was satisfactorily shielded and he settled down with a little grunt of satisfaction.

“Sorry Bones, what did you say?”

“Nothing.”

“Uh huh, you okay?” Jim raised his hands so he could his stroke his thumbs against Leonard’s collarbones. There was a faint chink of metal on metal and Leonard glanced down to see Jim’s hands were still cuffed.

“Those are coming straight off.”

“What? Oh my bracelets, yeah they’re not really my style.”

“I am sorry Captain,” Spock broke in. “There was no time to demand a key. We can return for one, or perhaps a phaser would disable the lock.”

Jim laughed, “As if I need to phaser my way out of shoddy cuffs like these.” He started to lean down, but Leonard checked him with a hand on his arm.

“I can get it.” 

Jim shifted his foot closer to Leonard’s searching hand and Leonard ran his fingers around the top of his boot until they found the edge of pick. He eased it free with his nails and handed it to Jim.

Spock raised one eyebrow.

“Misspent youth,” said Jim airily as he worked the pick into the cuffs. Leonard lifted up his heels and let them drop, bouncing Jim on his lap. He remembered the hours Jim spent honing his ability at the Academy even if Jim wanted to pretend he came into the world naturally deviant.

“Hey,” Jim glared, “did it, or did it not, come in handy?”

Spock raised the other eyebrow, “Excuse me Captain, I am going to speak to Lieutenant Sulu.” He moved through to the pilot’s cabin, giving them as much privacy as possible in shuttle full of security personnel pointedly looking the other way.

The first cuff popped loose easily but Jim struggled with the second. 

“Stupid arm fucking aches,” he said, when Leonard looked at him with concern. Leonard winced as he realized that was the arm Jim had been shot in. A small piece of metal lodged in the upper arm probably would hinder fine motor control.

Silently he took the pick from Jim and worked the lock. It clunked free and he tossed the cuffs aside. Jim glowered, he _hated_ that Leonard was better at picking locks than he was. Leonard knew his role was to smirk at Jim’s annoyance, but his friend looked battered and bruised and hopelessly young, he was pouting and so adorable that all Leonard wanted to do was hold him protectively tight and kiss him.

And then then he thought, why not.

It wasn’t like that wild desperate kiss they’d shared before but soft and tender, Jim’s mouth opening to welcome him home. Leonard sank into the warm comfort.

There was a sharp cough just behind them. 

Leonard jumped and clutched at Jim for balance.

“Spock, fuck off,” Jim growled.

“Captain, we are docking with the Enterprise and will be ready to disembark in two point three minutes.”

“Mmph,” said Jim, clearly sharing Leonard’s disinclination to move. The shuttle rocked gently as it landed. “Alright fine, we’re coming.” He slid off Leonard’s lap and stood up. “Bones,” he held out his hand.

Leonard accepted the hand and kept hold of it even after he was on his feet. Jim glanced down at their linked hands. Leonard tightened his grip and Jim smiled.


End file.
